The Well: First Major Online Community Up For Sale
The Well was one of the first bulletin boardsrun on the internet and started before pretty much anyone knew what the internet was. There was speculation that remaining members of The Well would set up a non-profit group to buy the assets and keep the community going, but that doesn’t seem to be the case any longer.
Set up in 1985 before the net was widely used, The Well helped to define the basic ethic and etiquette of online life. Many of the early members of The Well have gone on to become the guiding lights of net as it has risen to its current level of prominence. The community was bought in 1999 by the Salon Media Group which now wants to concentrate on eponymous magazine. Salon said the community is expected to generate about $500,000 in revenue to March 2006 from its 4,000 subscribers and advertising. Salon said it would not sell the online community to the first buyer that made an offer, instead it said it would look for a “good match”.
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